


The Missing Minion

by Stripesicles222



Series: RWBY Tales [6]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Humor, Yang puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 03:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14560137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripesicles222/pseuds/Stripesicles222
Summary: Ruby gets a surprise when someone comes to her seeking her help.  Can she put aside the rivalry to help her arch-enemy in need?





	The Missing Minion

A lone figure wandered through the streets of Vale. He appeared to be looking for someone or something.

He let out a distraught sigh, his search proving fruitless. He hung his head in despair.

What more could he possibly do? He was at a complete loss and didn't know where to look.

A crazy idea flashed through his mind, but he quickly pushed it back. There was absolutely no way he was going to ask _her _for help.__

____

____

The worst part? There was a good chance _she _would actually agree to help him, meaning he would be indebted to _her _.____

_____ _

_____ _

But he was desperate, and running out of other options.

Cursing under his breath, the man turned and headed in a new direction.

This might work out, but either way he knew he'd regret it.

~~~~~~

Ruby Rose sat alone in her dorm room. It wasn't often she had the room to herself, so she was going to take full advantage of this opportunity.

She had pulled out her secret stash of cookies and was currently sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by comic books as she tinkered with her beloved battle scythe. Life was good at Beacon Academy.

She was jarred out of her state of peaceful solitude by a knocking at her door.

In a panicked frenzy, the young huntress-to-be shoved her snacks back into their hiding place. She had put half of her comic books away when she realized that Weiss wouldn't have knocked, so she needn't worry about being caught and getting a lecture about her habits. Same thing went for the rest of her team.

So, who was at the door?

It was probably just Jaune or Pyrrha.

But just in case, she grabbed her Crescent Rose as she approached the door. You could never be too safe after all.

Despite her preparation for the worst, she was still very surprised at the person on the other side.

"T-Torchwick?" She stammered. "How did…? What are…? Why…?"

The man ignored her incomprehensible ramblings and shoved her back into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Where are the others?" he asks.

"What? Oh, my team. They're out right now. But what are you doing here?"

The man continued muttering as if he hadn't heard the question.

"Good, good. The fewer people involved the better for my pride."

Ruby decided she was done being ignored and extended her weapon and pointed it at Roman.

At the sound, the criminal spun around and raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender.

"Easy there Red," he said. "I'm not here to fight you."

Ruby hardened her gaze.

"Then what are you doing here?" She asked. "And how did you even get up here either?"

"I've come to ask for your help." He winced as if the words were physically painful.

Ruby lowered her scythe and looked at him in confusion.

"But why would you come to me?" She asked. "Aren't we sworn enemies? Why don't you just ask one of your lackeys?"

"That's just it," Roman said. "No matter where I am, you manage to track me down."

"Your point?"

"I need you to find someone for me."

"There's no way you're turning me into a bounty hunter," Ruby countered. "I'm not helping you break the law."

"It's not like that," Roman defended. "The person I'm looking for is a very dear friend of mine. I believe you met her at our little fight under that bridge."

Ruby recalled an image of a girl with pink and brown hair twirling an umbrella.

"But why would I help you?" she asked again.

"Because, believe it or not, I don't have many friends as a criminal. Neo might be the only one," he admitted. "And if I recall correctly, you have friends you care about too."

Ruby looked him over as she considered it.

Yes, Roman was a criminal, but he seemed to really care about this Neo person. She saw the desperation in his eyes and finally caved.

"Fine," she said, fully collapsing her weapon. "But I'm bringing the rest of my team as backup."

"Fair enough." As much as he didn't like the thought of having an entire team of huntresses in training at his back, he knew it was his best shot of finding Neo. And he hadn't exactly given Red a reason to trust him, so he couldn't blame her for her caution.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and sent an urgent message to her teammates telling them to meet her at the dorm.

Within a couple of minutes, the three other member of Team RWBY met up with their leader in the hall outside their dorm room.

"What's up Rubes?" Yang asked. "Why are we all standing in the hall?"

Ruby chuckled nervously.

"You guys aren't going to like this, but I need you to promise to not freak out when I open this door."

Weiss gave her annoyed look.

"What did you do this time?"

Ruby didn't reply, but instead reached behind her and opened the door, stepping in to let her friends see who it contained.

They stared at the man for a few seconds before Weiss grabbed her leader back into the hall and slammed the door behind her.

"What is he doing here?" Blake hissed.

"I knew you wouldn't like it…" Ruby mumbled.

"Ruby, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just call the cops now and have this criminal arrested?" Weiss asked menacingly.

"I know it looks bad, but he came to me asking for help looking for his friend," Ruby explained. "The one who was with him on that bridge."

"It's probably a trap," Blake said. "Why should we trust him?"

"You're right, I can't trust him. That's why I was hoping you guys would come along and watch my back."

"There is no way I am helping a criminal!" Weiss stated.

"I don't expect you too," Ruby admitted. "Just know that I'm going regardless of whether or not you guys agree. But I would feel safer with people I trust at my back."

There was an uneasy silence as they regarded their leader and made up their minds.

"I don't like it," Weiss said. "But I'll come along anyway."

"Same here," added Blake. "If anything goes wrong, I'm going to take him down myself."

Ruby smiled. Two down, one to go.

"Yang?"

"Of course I'm coming," the blonde assured. "I'm not letting my sister just run off with a criminal."

Ruby smiled again at her friends. It was nice to know they had her back.

She opened the door and called into their uninvited guest.

"Come on Torchwick. Let's go find your friend and get this over with."

The man grinned and joined them in the hall. He didn't make it very far before Yang stepped in front of him.

"Just know that we are only coming to make sure you don't hurt my sister. So watch yourself."

He nodded weakly and ran around her to catch up with Ruby.

Why did he have to come to them for help?

~~~~~~

A few hours later, they were still searching for the runaway Neo with no sign of results.

"It's getting late," Yang noted.

By this time, everyone was getting tired and a little footsore.

Despite her determination, Ruby knew her team wouldn't be able to go on like this much longer.

"Hey Torchwick?" She said. "We've been at this all afternoon and we haven't found any leads yet."

Roman looked betrayed.

"Are you suggesting we give up?" He asked. "I thought you kids were all about perseverance and hope and other such nonsense."

Ruby shook her head.

"Not give up, but we do need a break to get our second wind," she said. "I know a nice little place where we can rest for a bit before continuing our search."

Reluctantly, Roman agreed and followed the tired team to a place of brief repose.

~~~~~~

"We're here!" Ruby exclaimed as she stopped in front of building.

It was a quaint little place tucked away in the corner of the city. Its battered sign read 'Ye Olde Ice Cream Shoppe.'

Weiss rolled her eyes, not bothering to rebuke her leader's need for sugar every minute of the day.

The group of five found a booth in the corner. Ruby took their orders and went to the counter to purchase their ice cream. She even got a cone for Roman as a way of apologizing for not finding his friend yet.

An awkward silence filled the air as they ate their ice cream.

"Wow," Yang said. "What's with the icy atmosphere?"

"Not now Yang," Weiss warned, correctly guessing where the blonde was heading.

"What? Are my puns too cool for you?"

Weiss pushed Yang off the bench and onto the floor.

"No need to give me the cold shoulder…"

Weiss got up and reached for her rapier, but Ruby shot to her side and stopped her.

"She's not worth it," she pleaded.

"Chill out, would ya?"

Before Weiss could injure yang, Blake drew everyone's attention elsewhere.

"Hey, look over there," she said.

The others looked over to the object that had caught the cat faunus' attention.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"That's Neo's umbrella!" Roman declared.

The pink parasol was leaning against the side of a booth facing away from them.

The group got up and walked towards it.

When the reach the table, they saw the missing girl with a large bowl of ice cream sitting in front of her.

The girl looked up at them and blinked in silent question.

"Hi," Ruby said. "My name is Ruby, and I think your friend is looking for you."

Roman walked around and sat on the other side of the table, leaving RWBY to just stand around awkwardly.

"This is where you've been?" The criminal asked in disbelief.

The mute girl nodded eagerly.

"But…why?"

Neo gestured to the bowl in front of her as if that explained everything.

"You know we have ice cream back at our hideout right?"

She shrugged as if to say it just wasn't the same.

Roman sighed and then turned his attention to the four girls who standing around the table awkwardly.

"I suppose I should thank you," he said.

"It's cool," Yang said. "Besides, we got some Weiss Cream out of it."

Weiss growled.

"So help me, Yang, by the time we get back you will be frozen."

Yang gulped and ran out of the shop shouting farewells as she went.

"Gotta go! See you later! Bye!"

The others watched her go with a mixture of amusement and hatred (the latter from Weiss).

"I'll go make sure she doesn't get into anymore trouble," Blake said, following her partner at a much more reasonable pace.

"Anyway, we should probably get going," Ruby said.

"Wait," Roman said, catching her arm before she left. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Well, I doubt you're going to turn yourself in, so I guess not."

Roman reached into his pocket and pulled out a few lien.

"Here," he said, handing them over. "This is for the ice cream."

Ruby nodded, and she and Weiss left the shop.

"So why did we help him?" Weiss asked when they got to the street.

"You weren't there when he asked," Ruby replied. "He just looked so…desperate. I kinda felt bad for him."

Weiss sighed.

"You are way too soft," she said.

Ruby just shrugged.

"I guess that's why we work so well together."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not exactly the most sympathetic person I know," the scythe wielder said.

Weiss opened her mouth to deny it, but realized she was right.

"We do work well together, don't we?"

Ruby nodded.

"We're partners after all."

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by KHARAKI TAKAN from fanfiction.net.


End file.
